1. (a) Under the Texas Education Code, §11.159, the State Board of Education (SBOE) shall adopt a framework for governance leadership to be used in structuring continuing education for school board members. Copies of the framework shall be sent annually to the president of each board of trustees to be distributed to all current board members and the superintendent.

2. (b) The continuing education required under the Texas Education Code, §11.159, applies to each member of an independent school district board of trustees. The continuing education requirement consists of orientation sessions, an annual team building session with the local board and the superintendent, and specified hours of continuing education based on identified needs. The superintendent's participation in team building sessions as part of the continuing education for board members shall represent one component of the superintendent's ongoing professional development.

   1. (1) Each school board member of an independent school district shall receive a local district orientation and an orientation to the Texas Education Code.

      1. (A) Each new board member shall participate in a local district orientation session within 60 days before or after the board member's election or appointment. The purpose of the local orientation is to familiarize new board members with local board policies and procedures and district goals and priorities.
      2. (B) Before January 1, 1997, each sitting board member shall receive a basic orientation to the Texas Education Code and relevant legal obligations. The orientation shall have special but not exclusive emphasis on statutory provisions related to governing Texas school districts. The orientation shall be delivered by regional education service centers (ESCs) and shall be three hours in length.
      3. (C) Following January 1, 1997, each newly elected board member of an independent school district shall receive the orientation to the Texas Education Code within the first year of service. The orientation shall be delivered by ESCs and shall be three hours in length.
      4. (D) After each session of the Texas Legislature, including each regular session and called session related to education, each school board member shall receive an update to the basic orientation provided by the ESC. The update session shall be of sufficient length to familiarize board members with major changes in the code and other relevant legal developments related to school governance. A board member who has attended an ESC basic orientation session that incorporates the most recent legislative changes is not required to attend an update.
   2. (2) The entire board, including all board members, shall annually participate with their superintendent in a team building session facilitated by the ESC or another registered provider. The team building session shall be of a length deemed appropriate by the board, but generally at least three hours. The purpose of the team building session is to enhance the effectiveness of the board-superintendent team and to assess the continuing education needs of the board-superintendent team. The assessment of needs shall be based on the framework for governance leadership and shall be used to plan continuing education activities for the year for the governance leadership team.

   3. (3) In addition to the continuing education requirements in paragraph (1) and paragraph (2) of this subsection, each board member shall receive additional continuing education on an annual basis in fulfillment of assessed needs and based on the framework for governance leadership. The continuing education sessions may be provided by ESCs or other registered providers.

      1. (A) In a board member's first year of service, he or she shall receive at least ten hours of continuing education in fulfillment of assessed needs.
      2. (B) Following a board member's first year of service, he or she shall receive at least five hours of continuing education annually in fulfillment of assessed needs.
      3. (C) A board president shall receive continuing education related to leadership duties of a board president as some portion of the annual requirement.
3. (c) No continuing education shall take place during a school board meeting unless that meeting is called expressly for the delivery of board member continuing education. However, continuing education may take place prior to or after a legally called board meeting in accordance with the provisions of the Government Code, §551.001(4).
4. (d) An ESC board member continuing education program shall be open to any interested person, including a current or prospective board member.
5. (e) A registration fee shall be determined by ESCs to cover the costs of providing continuing education programs offered by ESCs.

6. (f) A private or professional organization, school district, government agency, college/university, or private consultant shall register with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to provide the board member continuing education required in subsection (b)(2) and subsection (b)(3) of this section.

   1. (1) The registration process shall include documentation of the provider's training and/or expertise in the activities and areas covered in the framework for governance leadership.
   2. (2) An updated registration shall be required of a provider of continuing education every three years.
   3. (3) A school district that provides continuing education exclusively for its own board members is not required to register.
7. (g) The provider of continuing education shall provide verification of completion of board member continuing education to the individual participant and to the participant's school district. The verification must include the provider's registration number.
8. (h) At least 50% of the continuing education required in subsection (b)(3) of this section shall be designed and delivered by persons not employed or affiliated with the board member's local school district. No more than one hour of the required continuing education that is delivered by the local district may utilize self-instructional materials.
9. (i) To the extent possible, the entire board shall participate in continuing education programs together.
10. (j) Annually, at the meeting at which the call for election of board members is normally scheduled, the current president of each local board of trustees shall announce the name of each board member who has completed the required continuing education, who has exceeded the required hours of continuing education, and who is deficient in the required continuing education. The president shall cause the minutes of the local board to reflect the information and shall make this information available to the local media.
11. (k) Annually, SBOE shall commend those local board-superintendent teams that receive at least eight hours of the continuing education specified in subsection (b)(2) and subsection (b)(3) of this section as an entire board-superintendent team.

Source Note:The provisions of this §61.1 adopted to be effective March 1, 1996, 21 TexReg 875.